Movement on the ground is sometimes referred to by the English expression “taxiing.” After its landing on a runway of an airport, an aircraft must taxi from said runway until it reaches its station, generally corresponding to a gate (“gate” being the English term) of the terminal of said airport. In order for it to take off, the aircraft must generally reverse from its station and then taxi to a runway of the airport chosen for the takeoff. Conventionally, the taxiing is carried out using the (heat) engines of the aircraft, the latter delivering a minimum thrust corresponding to a slow running speed of the engines (called IDLE in English). This minimum thrust is greater than the thrust necessary for the taxiing of the aircraft: consequently, the pilot of the aircraft is forced to use the brakes of the aircraft in order to control the taxiing speed. This results in useless fuel consumption by the engines of the aircraft, as well as a heating up and wearing of the brakes. Moreover, the aircraft cannot reverse independently in order to leave its station: it must be pushed by a tractor on the ground. A solution has been proposed in order to overcome these disadvantages, which consists of using at least one electric motor associated with at least one wheel of an undercarriage of the aircraft. This solution, called “eTaxi”, makes it possible for the aircraft to taxi without necessitating the use of the heat engines.
This eTaxi method uses brakes associated with said at least one wheel in order to slow down the aircraft, when a braking of the latter is necessary during taxiing. However, it would be desirable to improve the stability of the aircraft, in particular when the latter is reversing.